


In the best way, you'll be the death of me

by Miyukitty



Series: SASOikawa 2016 [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Final Haikyuu Quest, Demons, Denial, Established Relationship, Fluffy Ending, Going to Hell, Homoromantic, Light Angst, M/M, Mild Blood, Not Really Character Death, One Shot, Regicide, SASO 2016, Soul Bond, Underworld
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-12
Updated: 2016-06-12
Packaged: 2018-07-14 14:03:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7174799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miyukitty/pseuds/Miyukitty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the prompt: <i>Remember when Oikawa died and Iwaizumi just wasn't having it so he stomped his way to the underworld and dragged Oikawa back himself?</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	In the best way, you'll be the death of me

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the SASO2016 BR1 prompt: _Remember when Oikawa died and Iwaizumi just wasn't having it so he stomped his way to the underworld and dragged Oikawa back himself?_
> 
> This was a cute prompt and I love supernatural stuff but instead I latched on with my FHQ agenda, oops :);; I reworked this from the original post and it's still pretty light-hearted, I wasn't aiming for angst so much as... king and his (ace) knight <3 Unintentional echoes of Fire Emblem and His Dark Materials bc that's my brand of high fantasy?
> 
> Can be considered sequel to [this FHQ](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7218244), especially since I started writing them as one fic and ended up splitting them into two because length?? :V

 

 _"…I always knew you'd be the death of me," the demon choked out, smile bittersweet on his parted lips._  

 

* * *

 

  
  
Iwaizumi honestly can't fathom how long it took him to make it here.

 

Sunlight is a distant memory. So is touch. There were times when he started to forget even his name, memories slipping through the cracks as the cold creeps inexorably in to take their place.

 

But Iwaizumi knows what to expect from the underworld. And the longing ache in his chest grows stronger with each step in the right direction, guiding him true.

 

So he shoulders past the shades of the once-living as they crowd him, ignores their whispers and pleas and reaching hands, and continues on and on through the endless maze of grey caverns and black water.

  
  
"It has to be you," he repeats out loud every time his weary body nearly buckles under the weight of his armor, when the cold makes him want to lie down and sink into an endless sleep. If he doesn't do this, no one else will.

 

* * *

 

 

_"Traitor," the king had hissed that day, baleful eyes sharp with rage. And Iwaizumi might have believed the performance, had either of them been willing to sever the connection between them._

  
  
Iwaizumi laughs, the booming noise echoing down silent corridors. He can't even be bitter about all this – because that damn Oikawa knew all along how far he'd be willing to go. He's counting on it.

 

Oikawa calls to him, and Iwaizumi will always answer.

  
  
_It has to be you, because only you would be this stubborn, Hajime. You'll never let him go._

 

* * *

 

Weapons clatter to the floor all at once. Weary voices rise in a ragged cheer. The little swordsman grabs his taciturn companions' hands and whirls them into a dance. Their quest, against all reasonable odds, is complete.

 

Surprisingly, it's Kageyama who lingers and asks if he's okay.

 

Iwaizumi's fingers twitch. He doesn't know how to respond.

 

Instead he watches with a wary eye as the princess is released from her crystal by the succubus, the capricious demon that decided to lead them safely past the castle's traps to the inner sanctum. Her valuable information bought her freedom. She is one of only two demonkin left in the gutted castle.

 

(The other, the incubus, hangs awkwardly back from the adventurers, a rueful grin playing crooked on his bruised face. The fool refused to flee even when the tides turned in favor of the heroes. He's a harmless prisoner now, demon blood bound and fettered by the white mage's holy spell.)  

  
  
Iwaizumi looks anywhere but down while Kageyama waits, fidgeting. And maybe it shouldn't surprise him after all, given their history, that Tobio was the only other person not celebrating.

 

The king is dead, long live the king.

  
  
Iwaizumi finally looks down at the hilt still clenched between his numb fingers. His mind tells him it's over, but his stubborn hands don't want to let go.

 

Neither do Oikawa's hands, grasping the paladin's sword even in death, guiding it to center on his own heart.

  
  
_"So you don't miss, Iwa-chan. It has to you," he said simply, and Iwaizumi trusted him enough to push down._

 

"Yeah," he answers gruffly. It's feeble, fainter than ever, but he still feels the tug in his chest. "Yeah, I'll be okay."

  
  
Kageyama's mouth snaps into a frown, brows furrowed like he was trying to work out a difficult equation in his mind.

 

Iwaizumi slowly straightens, and lets his grip go slack. There's nothing left for him to hold onto in this hollow shell. This isn't where he needs to be. 

 

(And Iwaizumi is glad he doesn't have to see that pained, self-deprecating smile anymore, the one smile he always hated most.)

 

He claps a hand firmly on the archer's shoulder, making him start.

  
  
"My king needs me now more than ever. What kind of knight would I be if I broke my oath after all this?"

  
  
"Iwaizumi-san? I thought you already..."

  
  
"Damn that bastard for never playing fair, though. He knew exactly what he was dragging me into."

 

"...Surely you're not still bonded...?"

 

Kageyama looks even more confused, tilting his head with the question. Iwaizumi just barks a laugh and walks away from the bloodied throne. He doesn't need to explain himself.

 

He's not forcing the determined set of his jaw, the purposeful spring to his step. Somehow a weight has been lifted from his shoulders, now that the hard part is over. He doesn't even feel saddened.

 

This all had to happen, he had to be stopped, _it has to be you_. The adventurers can rest easy now that the kingdom is safe, but for Iwaizumi, the quest is not over yet.

 

He trusts the pull in his chest to guide him, leaves the sword buried where it belongs, and soon the castle is far, far behind him.

 

* * *

  
  
He finds the revenant king by himself beneath a twisted, colorless tree with no foliage. Iwaizumi scowls. He never did like the way Oikawa looked alone.

 

_Wasn't that why he pledged his soul to a lonely half-demon child in the first place, all those years ago? So that he'd never be alone again?_

 

He's drained of color, a shade of his former self. Iwaizumi grits his teeth and figures that's what it looked like when _he_ left Oikawa alone, after accusations were shouted and doors were slammed and he finally turned his sword against his liege.

 

But Oikawa knew it would lead to this, didn't he? He planned it all, even the fallout. He wasn't nearly as good at acting as he thought he was.

 

(Or maybe the bond between them just let Iwaizumi hear the things Oikawa was unwilling to say aloud.)

  
  
Iwaizumi closes the gap between them quickly, eyes steely with determination.

  
  
"Get up, dumbass, you're coming with me."

  
  
Oikawa blinks, and turns slowly around. His proud horns are gone, and there's a gaping hole in his chest where his demon heart should be.

 

"Iwa-chan," he whimpers in protest, and juts his lip petulantly.

 

Iwaizumi holds his gaze for a long moment as he waits. Oikawa's eyes are the only splash of color visible, but they're not the razor-sharp demon red he remembers. They're something warmer now, the color of tilled soil.

 

Oikawa's slender hands flutter in the air before his sternum, grasping for the phantom hilt of a sword that did not exist.

 

"I don't want to go back if I have to be _human_. I'm staying."

 

Iwaizumi feels the vein in his forehead throb.

  
  
"Do you have any idea how much work-"

  
  
"I never asked you to come here," Oikawa interjects. He's a liar.

 

"Maybe I don’t want to go anywhere with you, seeing how you murdered me and all. Maybe I'm better off dead. You can go play knight with Tobio-chan, since you clearly like him so much better than me."

  
  
(And as Oikawa turns his back and ignores him, Iwaizumi weighs the pros and cons of killing the idiot a second time.)

  
  
But when his hands do move, they catch the soul of Oikawa gently, drawing him in without resistance.

 

He heard the undercurrent of fear, the catch of loneliness on jagged accusations: _You're afraid if you're human, my soul will no longer be bound to yours.  
_

 

Iwaizumi sighs. _Dumbass_.

 

As they touch, he feels both of their bodies, one living, one spectral, shudder in relief against each other. The strain of separation eases into a sense of peace, of belonging. He presses his hand below the yawing hole until he finds it - the faint, but steady, pulse of a human heart. And now, finally, his quest is complete.

  
  
"I didn't miss," Iwaizumi murmurs, satisfied. "Come home with me, milord. I'm here."

 

"Not 'milord' any more, Iwa-chan. If I'm human, I won't be a king, either…" Oikawa whispers, nuzzling into the crook of Iwaizumi's neck.

 

There's no corresponding scrape of horn, no cruel teeth breaking his skin. There never would be again. He tightens his hold, and feels his weariness ebb away into new resolve. This is their chance to start over. They won't have another. 

  
  
"As long as I'm here, I'm still your knight. You know it's always you," Iwaizumi mutters gruffly, closing his eyes. (Renewing his vow was embarrassing enough; he didn't want to see the sappy smile Oikawa was no doubt making.) 

 

They'll be mortal together, now. They can grow old together. 

 

"It has to be you," Oikawa promised softly, hands tracing along the dents in his battered armor. "In this life and the next."

 

Iwaizumi angles his face upward trustingly. Their lips meet, and he feels Oikawa smile into the kiss.

 

Slowly they both remember what touch is, what warmth is, and Oikawa feels a little more solid in his arms.

 

* * *

 

 


End file.
